Auburn Hills, Michigan: The margin on the scoreboard and the Detroit Pistons' stature continued to grow and grow, seemingly doubling in size with every steal, with every dunk. The conquered, the once larger-than-life Los Angeles Lakers, dwindled to the size of their one meaningless victory in these shocking NBA finals.

Shaquille O'Neal did not appear seven-feet one-inch (212.5 centimetres) and 340pounds (153 kilograms), Kobe Bryant did not look like an unparalleled high-flyer, and Karl Malone was not the indestructible force he had been for most of his 19-year career; he sat on the bench in street clothes.

The NBA has new kings, and for the first time in 25 years there is not a superstar among them. The Detroit Pistons, the essence of teamwork, the essence of grit, manhandled the built-to-win, built-to-gloat Los Angeles Lakers in game five on Tuesday night, winning 100-87 and giving the Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown his first league title in 21 seasons on an NBA bench.

"Fairytale endings do actually occur," commissioner David Stern said before presenting the Larry O'Brien championship trophy to the Pistons. The four-games-to-one victory made Brown, who has coached for 32 years at the college and professional levels, the first coach to win an NCAA and an NBA championship.

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This championship may go down as one of basketball's greatest upsets. In 1988, he led the University of Kansas to the national title.

"I remember Chuck Daly told me something one day," Brown said, referring to the last coach to lead Detroit to a championship, in 1990. "That when you finally do win one, you won't appreciate it until you're driving down the highway one day and you'll get a big grin on your face. I had that feeling when I coached Kansas later on. I'm sure I'm going to have it now."

Brown's was not the only history that was made, or kept from being made. The Pistons became the first home team since the 2-3-2 finals format was instituted in 1985 to win all three middle games. The Lakers' Phil Jackson, losing for the first time in 10 finals appearances as a coach, failed to surpass Red Auerbach's nine championships.

The 40-year-old Malone, out with a sprained right knee, and the 35-year-old Gary Payton, each turned down millions of dollars last summer to join the Lakers in hopes of winning their first title. Malone's anger and disappointment showed as he walked off the floor without even congratulating the Pistons.

"Detroit proved to be a little better than we were in this series," Jackson said.

It was 15 years ago that Detroit's Bad Boys denied the Lakers' bid to win their third straight title, and this new version might have shut the door on the Lakers' latest dynasty, which won three consecutive championships starting in 2000 behind Jackson, O'Neal and Bryant. Neither of the Lakers' superstars stood out on Tuesday, O'Neal finishing with 20 points and Bryant 24 on woeful 7-of-21 shooting.

"Nobody gave us a chance but we knew we would have a shot," Chauncey Billups, the finals MVP, said. "It would be a tough task, going against Shaq and Kobe. But we felt we were the better team. We felt we had the best cohesiveness in the league this year."